Using parasites such as whipworms, leeches, and maggots sounds creepy crawly nasty, but the former could bring long-awaited relief to people with inflammatory bowel disease.

Niiler’s article reminded me of the theories that exist as to why there has been an explosion of autoimmune disease in the past century. People are being diagnosed with celiac disease and Crohn’s disease, for example, in unprecedented numbers. Niiler mentions that modern sanitation has eradicated parasites that have existed in humans since time immemorial, and maybe it’s time to put them back.

My first exposure to biotherapy was reading about the use of maggots to cleanse the dead flesh out of a wound in my dad’s Army survival manual. It disgusted me, but it also made perfect sense. This does too. Let’s hope the FDA does the right thing and approves these treatments.

So next time you feel like no food likes you, all food hates you, might as well eat some worms, that might be exactly what you need to do.